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Mega Drive Mini 2 Announced (Includes Mega CD Games)

Discussion in 'General Sega Discussion' started by Ashura96, May 27, 2022.

  1. Garth

    Garth

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    I like the fact this is going to have the Mega CD version of Sonic CD. That's incredible news.

    I do hope that we get a focus on some mega drive games which haven't been the standard fare in compilations in recent years. Games like Flashback, the strike series, the disney games etc.

    And it must have Snatcher!
     
  2. doc eggfan

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    I can't decide whether to panic and start pre-ordering, or wait and see whether there is a Western release...
     
  3. Captain L

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    Update, I'm an idiot, Gaijinworks has absolutely inherited Working Designs copyrights. They were the publisher for the western PSN releases of the Arc the Lad games. So, if Game Arts is already on board, a western release having Lunar seems likely.
     
  4. Gryson

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    I'm a bit worried that there are going to be copyright issues that prevent Lunar from appearing on this... possibly in Japan, especially in North America. Hopefully wrong, but the history of this game is complicated.

    1) Studio Alex sued Game Arts in 2003 over the copyright to the original game. The outcome of this isn't clear to me, although Studio Alex apparently went bankrupt from it.
    2) The Sega CD versions and 32-bit versions of the games have never been re-released. The 2009 PSP remake, localized by Xseed, apparently uses Working Designs' script with alterations, but Vic Ireland doesn't seem to have been involved with it. Did Xseed buy the rights to the script?
    3) Why did Vic Ireland's company Gaijinworks never re-release a Lunar game? What prevented this from happening? I would assume this would be the #1 title Ireland would have pursued. I can only imagine there were copyright issues of some sort.
    4) Vic Ireland disappeared from the internet five years ago and hasn't been heard from since.
    5) There was a 2012 iOS release of Lunar: Silver Star Story by relatively unknown publisher SoMoGa. Look at this quote from SoMoGa on the origins of this port:

    "It’s a port, but it’s sort of a [mixed-breed]. For various business, technical, and legal reasons, we couldn’t port over any of the versions exactly. So it’s actually mostly the engine of the Saturn game, with the enhancements and script of the PlayStation version, the re-mastered audio and video of the PSP release, plus some higher-resolution assets that haven’t been seen on this side on the world yet."

    So there are three publishers who have published Vic Ireland's original script in North America: 1) Working Designs, 2) Xseed, and 3) SoMoGa. Who owns the rights to it?

    Edit: See below. Apparently Game Arts bought the rights to the script from Working Designs, but not the audio rights.
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2022
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  5. SupperTails66

    SupperTails66

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    I know I'm the only one who'll laugh at this, but I can't help myself...

    [​IMG]
    https://twitter.com/satomurakyo/status/1533491981157949440

    "If it has Yumemi on it, then of course it'll have Yumimi on it too, right?"

    I wish, but I'm not expecting it. Yumimi Mix's copyright is partially held by manga artist Izumi Takemoto, who would presumably have to get royalties for a rerelease. That might not be a dealbreaker by itself -- per Gryson's list on the first page, it was a highly-regarded game in Japan and might be enough of a draw to be worth the extra cost -- but the opening and ending themes are licensed tracks from a then-popular idol singer, and music royalties always seem to be a big stumbling block for this kind of thing (see: the progressively worse background music in every new edition of Crazy Taxi). Oh, and as for a Western release, hahaha.

    It always pains me to talk about these games, but I believe I read a statement from Victor Ireland that the rights to the old Lunar localizations are now held by Game Arts itself... Ah, here it is:

    http://operationrainfall.com/2016/0...n-summon-night-5-punching-puppets-part-three/
    (fake edit: guess this partially answers your question too, Gryson)

    Exactly what that means for a potential rerelease here, I couldn't tell you. Personally, at this point I'd tell anyone to just stay away from the Lunar localizations and the endless toxicity in and around them, but sadly I'm sure there's a ready market for them.

    Honestly, I think the real question is whether the Lunar games will be included on the Japanese release to begin with. They were remade and rereleased enough times that Game Arts might feel that they'd be worth putting out individually rather than just being included on a compilation like this. But they're undeniably some of the best and most popular games on the console, so I guess we'll see.
     
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  6. Gryson

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    I don't think there will be problems getting the rights from Takemoto. He's active with Sega-related stuff and has recently been doing some Sega-themed comics for Beep21. Although, I wonder how much of it is his decision and how much is the original publisher's... Obviously the music, though, represents a huge hurdle. Same for Urusei Yatsura, I guess.

    Thanks for the Lunar info. So the only hurdles are possibly the audio and any copyright conflicts that might exist in Japan.

    And I agree with you that there's a chance Game Arts holds back on Lunar with the intention of an HD release of some sort like they did with Grandia.
     
  7. SupperTails66

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    Oh, I have no doubt Takemoto would be on board with it if asked -- the man certainly loves his video games. I skimmed through some issues of Mega Drive Fan for information on Yumimi Mix when I was working on the translation for it, and one article had an interview with him where he rattled off a long list of all the game consoles he owned, which included pretty much everything that had been released up to 1992. (IIRC he even had an SG-1000, of all things, though he admitted it didn't get much use anymore.) And he worked on Mermaid Days just a couple years ago, so he certainly hasn't soured on the industry. But presumably they'd have to pay him something, and if I was putting together a list of games for a compilation like this, I'd certainly be asking "Is this worth the extra money we'll have to spend on it, or should we just use some first-party game that doesn't have all these extra strings attached?".

    Game Arts published it, and I don't see why they'd object to Yumimi if they approved Silpheed, so again, I'd say it mostly just comes down to the music rights situation.

    Since you mentioned it, I do wonder if there's any possibility of seeing the Urusei Yatsura game on this. Normally I'd say it had a snowball's chance in hell, but there's apparently an upcoming anime revival, and god knows Rumiko Takahashi never turned down an opportunity to make more money... But I'm sure that's in an even more tangled situation than Yumimi, so it's probably still pretty far-fetched.
     
  8. Captain L

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    Of course these games have a complicated legal background. I liked Lunar: Silver Star Harmony on the PSP, I wanted to play the second game, but I guess there's still no feasible (legal) way to do that in the near future.

    Alright, I'll just go back to hoping for Rocket Knight Adventures, another game of the era that has never been rereleased despite the fact that there should be no issue with it. Though, I'll admit, I didn't consider the possibility that this new console would have a completely new set of games (I first figured it would be a souped-up version of the first mini), so perhaps my dreams of both Rocket Knight Adventures and Mega Man: The Wily Wars are not to be.
     
  9. Gryson

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    Let's hope. Yumimi Mix is an original story from Takemoto, right? At first I was thinking it was based on another of his works, but I don't think that's right. Urusei Yatsura, of course, would be a mess because the copyright is shared by Takahashi and the various TV / manga publishers. So Yumimi Mix is definitely a possibility in comparison.
     
  10. doc eggfan

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    Based on recent interviews, it doesn't sound like there will be any other surprise ports like Fantasy Zone, Tetris and Darius. I was kind of hoping to see another game using the SVP emulator alongside Virtua Racing, or even some kind of tech demo to show what might have been....
     
  11. Yuzu

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    Honestly Snatcher happening would be amazing, especially if it results in an official English release for the first time in almost 30 years.
     
  12. Ted909

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    My absolutely unrealistic hope was that Taito would take advantage of the added sprite scaling abilities of the MCD and give us a surprise conversion of their lost arcade legend Vertexer - although clean footage of it only just surfaced the other month, so I don't have much confidence in the company themselves having much archived of it.
     
  13. Pirate Dragon

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    With how acrimonious the split between Kojima and Konami was I wouldn't hold out much hope for Snatcher. Konami even went so far as to make Sony remove the ability to transfer P.T. from PS4 to PS5 after it was initially possible.

    Edit: Actually it was on the Turbografx mini, so maybe they don't care.
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2022
  14. Black Squirrel

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    I could see them adding the Mega Drive version of Flash Point, which was unseen until a Sega Ages 2500 compilation on the PS2. As a "sequel" to Tetris, it ties in quite nicely.

    The pool of "mostly finished, but unreleased" Mega Drive games is quite shallow, especially from big Japanese publishers. But then finding 30 more worthwhile Mega Drive games that aren't bogged down in legal complications could be a challenge too. It's a fascinating exercise.
     
  15. doc eggfan

    doc eggfan

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    On the off chance that someone from Sega or M2 is watching this thread.

    1. In a recent interview, M2 was talking about how if the Mega Drive 2 shell was too small to hold the PCB, they were considering a WonderMega / X-Eye shell instead. I would not object to this becoming a reality - maybe a third version of Mega Drive mini as a Japan exclusive with another collection of Mega Drive and Mega CD games? Could help to pad out the years until Saturn emulation is viable.

    2. Speaking of padding out the years, a Master System mini also needs to happen. I'd like to see regional variations with this one, with a Mark III shell for Japan (with the FM module), a model 1 Master system shell for North America and a Master System II shell for Europe.

    3. Here is a silly request for authenticity - Can we get a "Sega Ozisoft mode" Easter egg for viewing manuals in the gallery? It would be a relatively simple matter:

    Regular mode:
    [​IMG]

    Sega Ozisoft mode:
    [​IMG]

    You could even throw some "Sega Classics" and "Sega Hotline" stickers on the game covers, for that authentic Ozisoft experience.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    EDIT: 4. Now that Sega has the rights to Technosoft's back catalogue, would it be too much to ask for a port of the first Thunder Force to a Sega system? Could be Mega Drive or Master System, I'm not picky.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2022
  16. Oh dear God, please give us this, Sega. The original WonderMega is the sexiest console ever produced.
     
  17. LockOnRommy11

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    Really? I think the MultiMega is the superior console, but each to their own!

    We’ll be lucky if we get the Mega Drive Mini 2 in the UK, and blessed of we get ANY sort of add-on.

    For the MD Mini, I managed to get a store display stand, empty console shell and controller, which is really cool. The thing has ports but no internals! Along with the actual console itself (and barring the exclusive influencer tower set), I guess I then have everything that I could possibly get my hands on here.

    They didn’t release the Game Gear Mini outside of Japan either, so they need to do better next time.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2022
  18. Gryson

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    This is super definitely not happening. Okunari even says so in this Famitsu interview: The Wondermega was a Victor product and is associated with Victor. He wanted to release a product that represents Sega, not Victor.
     
  19. Ashura96

    Ashura96

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    Second wave of title reveals coming next week via live YT video from Famitsu

     
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  20. I think SEGA Japan will get Lunar on the Mini, the issue will be in the West (if the Mini 2 comes over)
    I seem to remember WD saying that they owned all rights to Lunar in America, down to the name Lunar.

    I love to see SEGA bring Batman Returns to the Mini 2 as well since I don't think it ever came out in Japan and it was really the 1st game to show off the ASIC chip to its fullest and still plays a great game to this day. No doubt license issues will play their part. Hopefully SEGA will put a couple of CORE Desgin game on the unit too.
    Soul Star and Battle Corps really pushed the Mega CD